Page 30 of Big Enough to Bite
Pierre looks like a rag doll hanging from Sam’s fist. His eyes bulge out of his face.
With a sigh, Sam says, “My kind keep to themselves most of the time. Monsters don’t know much about us. They don’t know how strong we are or how fast we can be if necessary.”
Drawing his head back, Pierre’s fangs lengthen still. He surges forward and sinks his teeth into Sam’s hand. A look of victory lights his eyes as Sam cringes.
“That’s got to hurt,” Officer Gant muses, but only raises a bushy eyebrow and keeps his arms crossed over his impressive chest.
“You will put me down and give me the vampire I came for. You will tell the officers to retreat, or I will kill them as soon as I’m done with you.” Pierre’s command sounds strange coming from his choked throat while still dangling several feet above the ground.
Blood drips from Sam’s fist. “You know what else monsters don’t know about giants?” He lifts Pierre a few inches higher. “Giants can’t be put in thrall or be harmed by magic of any kind.” Sam reaches back and hurls Pierre against a giant oak growing at the edge of the cemetery.
Like a bird hitting a glass window, Pierre crumples to the ground.
Tilda gasps and stares until Pierre moans and begins to rise.
“Geez.” Jorge shakes his head.
Officer Gant makes a fist gesture, one that might be seen when a sports team does something noteworthy.
In a moment, Sam closes the distance and picks Pierre up in the same manner, this time pressing him against the tree.
Pierre gasps. Even a vampire needs to draw in some air, and his heart needs room to pump. From the looks of it, Sam’s got him squashed to the breaking point. “You can’t do this to me.”
Maybe I should feel remorse or empathy for the man who made me, but I only care about Sam, and I know he won’t take this too far. He said so, and I trust him. Trust feels new to me, but also perfectly right. Sam is the best person I know or have ever known.
“If you go quietly and politely to the police station and make no threats or acts of violence, maybe you'll live through the night, little vampire.” Sam presses harder.
What little color there is in Pierre’s face drains away. “I’m Pierre.”Gasp.“Brochet.”Gasp.“I’ll kill you all.”Long gasp.“I’m impervious.” His eyes bulge, and the vessels begin to burst.
“Sam…” the chief warns
Shaking his head, Sam says, “I’m barely trying here, Brochet. I’ve not even tapped into my significant strength. Do you still believe I can’t kill you? I could pop your head right off of your shoulders, and if memory serves, losing your headwillkill you.”
Gripping and kicking, Pierre makes another attempt at biting Sam’s hand.
“Enough, Sam.” Gant steps over the wall.
Pierre goes limp and his eyes close.
“You’re right, it is enough.” Sam slams Pierre against the tree and watches him crumble to the grass and old leaves.
Chief Martinez jumps over the wall and runs toward Pierre, calling into the microphone on his shoulder for an ambulance. “You promised you wouldn’t kill him, Sam.”
Sam strides toward me. “He’ll live. It’s more than he deserves, Chief.” As soon as he reaches the wall, he draws me into a tight hug. “You alright?”
“Fine. You were wonderful.” I press kisses to his cheeks and lips.
A groan proves that Pierre is still alive.
“I’ve got to go with the police.” Sam releases me. “A cell won’t hold him once he starts to recover, and I don’t know how long that will take.”
Peering around my beautiful giant, I study the limp form of the vampire who made me. His body is likely battered and bruised. “Did you break bones?”
Sam shrugs. “A few. Maybe more than a few. Probably cracked that thick skull too.”
The sirens sound as the ambulance approaches. It’s ridiculous. I call out, “Chief, take him to a jail cell. The hospital can’t help him, and he’ll recover in a day or two and be starving for blood. You don’t want him in a hospital with humans or monsters.”
Tilda steps out from behind the tower. “And don’t give him blood even if he begs. It will heal him faster.”
